OK, the face-off between the Virgin Queen and the Scottish Pretender never actually took place—but it makes for socko opera! Donizetti's riff on Tudor history also provides him with an opportunity for a great culminating choral scene, as Maria is led to the chopping block.

"Taped live in Macerata in 2007, this new recording presents us very much with an ensemble performance…. Apart from Laura Polverelli (Elisabetta), there are no big names, and no one is allowed to do anything notably showy or scene-stealing…. The best performance here is Roberto de Biasio's charismatic, yet ditheringly self-seeking Leicester. In the pit, meanwhile, Riccardo Frizza drives the first two acts onwards with furious momentum."—The Guardian

"Act one takes about 30 minutes to set up Elisabetta's hatred of Maria Stuarda, not for political/religious reasons but because Elisabetta feels that Maria stole the Queen's man, the Earl of Leicester. Maria only enters her eponymous opera in act two, where she is begged to tamp down her temper when Elisabetta visits, in hopes of a reprieve from her death sentence. But in the scene that keeps this opera alive, Elisabetta and Maria tear into each other with claw and fang. Understandably condemned, Maria then spends act three, after a futile attempt to change Elisabetta's mind, exhibiting tragic nobility as she awaits her fate beneath the ax."—Opera Today